Whale Watching from land on Vancouver Island?

The Ender

Are there any really good spots on Vancouver Island just to go whale watching from land?

The rates for the boating outfits are a joke (about a hundreds bucks a person).

Essee

From what I know, I don't think whales would be close enough to the island to be visible from just land, at least in Victoria... Whales and such have shown up a couple times when I've taken one of the ferries to Washington, but they haven't shown up right near the island. I think you'd need to be a fair distance from land to spot them.

So, that said, have you tried shopping around to make sure that's the cheapest price you can find? I know whale watching isn't cheap, but in Victoria at least, I seem to recall that even within the same harbor (though they're not too close physically) there are actually TWO totally seperate places you can find those businesses, and presumably they each have different pricing schemes. Victoria itself has a ton of harbors (there are three to four that I know of) so there are probably lots and lots of places you can look into if you're able to get around the area. It should even be possible to shop around if you're stuck taking buses everywhere like I am. Well, it's just a thought... everything seems to be really expensive here, so I'm not really all that surprised you had trouble, but there may be other options you didn't realize existed. There definitely isn't just one business here (or on the entire island) that does whale watching, even if it's the one that EVERYBODY advertises.

Druhim

That may seem like a lot of money, but boats are expensive to fuel and maintain. So no, that's not really that expensive all things considered. While it's possible to see orcas from land, it's also pretty unlikely. You'd pretty much have to be lucky. And then you may just be spotting orcas that are a mile or more from shore as opposed to being on a boat and being within a hundred yards or less.

The Ender

Essee wrote:

From what I know, I don't think whales would be close enough to the island to be visible from just land, at least in Victoria... Whales and such have shown up a couple times when I've taken one of the ferries to Washington, but they haven't shown up right near the island. I think you'd need to be a fair distance from land to spot them.

So, that said, have you tried shopping around to make sure that's the cheapest price you can find? I know whale watching isn't cheap, but in Victoria at least, I seem to recall that even within the same harbor (though they're not too close physically) there are actually TWO totally seperate places you can find those businesses, and presumably they each have different pricing schemes. Victoria itself has a ton of harbors (there are three to four that I know of) so there are probably lots and lots of places you can look into if you're able to get around the area. It should even be possible to shop around if you're stuck taking buses everywhere like I am. Well, it's just a thought... everything seems to be really expensive here, so I'm not really all that surprised you had trouble, but there may be other options you didn't realize existed. There definitely isn't just one business here (or on the entire island) that does whale watching, even if it's the one that EVERYBODY advertises.

There is no business with a quote lower than a hundred bucks or so (well, some go maybe 10 bucks under that).

Orcas come right up to the shore in the Robson Bight reserve to rub on the gravel beds, but the reserve is apparently 'off limits' even I just just want to go and fucking hike / watch whales. Of course, it's not off limits to 'Classic Yacht Charters Inc', so if you're super fucking rich you can go watch the damn whales all day long and throw your martini glasses at them I guess.


Man, I'm so pissed-off. Why the fuck can't I just go watch some animals from shore in a park?


I was just hoping someone else knew of a vantage point or something that one could go to and get at least a poor man's experience with binos.

Kochikens

You're prettymuch screwed, sorry. I mean, I'm sure there are some spots you could go and sit and hang out for a week days and maybe catch a far off glimpse at some point, maybe the corner of a fin. But the boats see whales because they know their routes and shit and are able to communicate with other boats to find and locate and track pods.

Druhim

The Ender wrote: »

Essee wrote:

From what I know, I don't think whales would be close enough to the island to be visible from just land, at least in Victoria... Whales and such have shown up a couple times when I've taken one of the ferries to Washington, but they haven't shown up right near the island. I think you'd need to be a fair distance from land to spot them.

So, that said, have you tried shopping around to make sure that's the cheapest price you can find? I know whale watching isn't cheap, but in Victoria at least, I seem to recall that even within the same harbor (though they're not too close physically) there are actually TWO totally seperate places you can find those businesses, and presumably they each have different pricing schemes. Victoria itself has a ton of harbors (there are three to four that I know of) so there are probably lots and lots of places you can look into if you're able to get around the area. It should even be possible to shop around if you're stuck taking buses everywhere like I am. Well, it's just a thought... everything seems to be really expensive here, so I'm not really all that surprised you had trouble, but there may be other options you didn't realize existed. There definitely isn't just one business here (or on the entire island) that does whale watching, even if it's the one that EVERYBODY advertises.

There is no business with a quote lower than a hundred bucks or so (well, some go maybe 10 bucks under that).

Orcas come right up to the shore in the Robson Bight reserve to rub on the gravel beds, but the reserve is apparently 'off limits' even I just just want to go and fucking hike / watch whales. Of course, it's not off limits to 'Classic Yacht Charters Inc', so if you're super fucking rich you can go watch the damn whales all day long and throw your martini glasses at them I guess.


Man, I'm so pissed-off. Why the fuck can't I just go watch some animals from shore in a park?


I was just hoping someone else knew of a vantage point or something that one could go to and get at least a poor man's experience with binos.

Calm down emo kid. There are strict laws regulating how close boats can get to orcas to protect them, and I'd assume the restrictions at Robson Bight are also for the protection of the whales.

Corvus

Many species of whales aren't going to come close to shore. There are different types of orcas, even, and some prefer to stay offshore I beleive.
I could just have been totally ignorant, but I lived in Victoria for seven years and I never heard of anywhere you can just stand on shore and see whales regularly.

Also, you should watch sites like GroupOn or LivingSocial for whale watching deals. I've seen deals on the trips out of vancouver in the last two weeks.

Furthermore, if you wait until September maybe there will be deals as tourist season will be over.

Beck

You might want to try asking Kayaking rental people. Lots of people on kayaks like to watch whales, so that might not be a bad place to start if you really don't want to drop some money on Whale Watching.

RubberAC

Kayak rentals, good choice. A lot more work, for the likely chance of not seeing a single whale, but I've seen plenty out by Port Hardy off the beach and in my Canoe, although I'm sure it's a lot less likely than actually going out with a cap'n for the sole purpose of finding whales.

Gilbert0

Like others have said, the whales are much too big / don't have a reason to come close to land. They stay out in open water.

If you're looking for some close wildlife, depending where you are, most harbours have "tamed" seals that come up and beg for food. Fisherman's wharf in Victoria has some and the fresh fish shop even sells fish for $1 each so you could handfeed them / take pictures of them.

Though you are talking Robson Bight which isn't exactly close to the more populated areas.

JdNoa

The Ender wrote:

Orcas come right up to the shore in the Robson Bight reserve to rub on the gravel beds, but the reserve is apparently 'off limits' even I just just want to go and fucking hike / watch whales. Of course, it's not off limits to 'Classic Yacht Charters Inc', so if you're super fucking rich you can go watch the damn whales all day long and throw your martini glasses at them I guess.

Robson Bight is a special reserve for orcas. Studies suggested that the whales are especially sensitive to disturbance when they're at the gravel beds, which is why it's closed off. Boats and people (except researchers) aren't allowed in the area; if a whale watching charter says they go there, they're likely hanging just outside the exclusion zone and looking in - it has nothing to do with being "rich". Also, it's on the north coast of the island - I'm not sure where you're staying, but that's 450km from Victoria. If you're actually staying in Victoria it would probably cost you as much to go visit there as it would to take a whale watching trip.

I grew up in Victoria, spent the first 25 years of my life there, and never saw a whale from the shore. I think I heard someone saw a whale from an Oak Bay beach once... yeah, odds are pretty low.

If you're catching the ferry to/from the island you *might* see whales. It's unusual though (maybe 1/10 or 1/20 trips I hear a whale announcement; more frequently in the summer).

willhelmson

Oh Vancouver/Victoria -- how I miss the left coast..

So this isn't "Whale Watching from land" but you can see from this website there are "tours" that are offered..
http://www.vancouverisland.com/whalewatch/results.asp?city=76

Otherwise I agree with JdNoa, you might be lucky and see one from one of the beaches or on the ferry, but I'd say likelihood is quite low..